Vent. So mad. Sticking with Carnival.

[cruisestitch]

Be aware that all lines, including Carnival, occasionally make errors and they are not obligated to honor mistake fares.  Enjoy your Carnival cruise, or whichever line you end up with.

[sanger727]

6 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Be aware that all lines, including Carnival, occasionally make errors and they are not obligated to honor mistake fares.  Enjoy your Carnival cruise, or whichever line you end up with.

 

While I can see that if a fare is advertised on their website and you book it online and it takes some time for a person to review it... In this case the OP spoke to a celebrity representative who said that they would honor the fare. I do think that employers should back their employee's promises, even if the employee is incorrect. In this case it isn't like the employee offered the OP a ridiculously low priced cruise. It was still a $10,000 cruise fare. I think it's lucky in this case that it sounds like he OP hadn't booked airfare or nonrefundable hotels/excursions yet. That would have been the next step and then who would pay for those. Yes, computers make mistakes and sometimes fares get posted that are not accurate. But how far can it go where the cruise line still gets to say "oops, our bad" before they are liable for the mistake that their software posted on their website and their employee agreed to honor when they made the booking and accepted a deposit. If I made the booking in the same way using a "nonrefundable deposit"; and called back later and said "oops, I made a mistake with this booking, I need to cancel and get my deposit back" do you think that would fly?

[waterbug123]

14 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

I would also not throw out the "I'm an attorney" card when you write to the VP.  Most companies will send you straight to their legal department when you do that, and you stop getting responses.

 

I agree.  If you have no intention to sue, and you said you don't, what's the point of telling them "I'm an attorney?" 

[Georgia_Peaches]

24 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I agree.  If you have no intention to sue, and you said you don't, what's the point of telling them "I'm an attorney?" 

I took it to mean that the OP was merely making this thread aware that she has a firm handle on consumer rights because she happens to be an attorney.  I didn't understand her to say that she mentioned it to the sales rep.  Maybe I misunderstood.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Georgia_Peaches

[Oceangoer2]

22 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I agree.  If you have no intention to sue, and you said you don't, what's the point of telling them "I'm an attorney?" 

I think the OP's only point was to make us/them aware she knows the law and the referring statute.  I would do the same.  And, free advice for anyone in this same predicament.  Agreed, there are more children friendly activities on other lines, but X does have a children's program.  Judging by the 'kids' parade' at noon on sea days, they seem to be really happy with it.  Whatever the OP chooses I'm sure she'll enjoy her vacation cruising.

[Stealthdog]

13 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Thanks for the advice.  It was $10,200 for 4 people in the lowest suite on the Apex for the Fjords for seven nights.  Price without kids sale free was about $13k.  Probably 70 percent of their suites are still unbooked.  

 

They actually had it for less on Halloween, but I got busy with my kids and trick or treating and did not book and then it expired

 

We also have a booking on the Apex for a Christmas cruise for $8500.  

 

That would have been an amazing deal.  $2500/person in a suite category on the newest ship with an itinerary that is normally one of the more expensive?  Sign me up!

 

If you are looking for a Fjords cruise, I don’t think you will find it with carnival - don’t believe they do those itineraries.

 

Sorry you had to waste all that time. 😔

[billslowsky]

14 hours ago, Wolf 8 said:

 

Since clearly you now have a profoundly negative predisposition toward Celebrity,  seek legal vindication or a customer service concession with them but PLEASE, cruise with a line other than RCL.

I don't want unhappy, litigious souls with me on Celebrity.  You'll feel more comfortable elsewhere.

 

I would rather cruise with a boat load of kids than someone like this ^^^.

[MarLieb]

17 hours ago, roswellmom said:

It could be considered good that they didn't accept the posted deal as Celebrity is not great for your kids.  Carnival is definitely a better cruise for kids than Celebrity.   

 

It depends on the kid.  Celebrity is a far better cruise line for my son than Carnival.  Carnival would be sensory overload for my child and a terrible vacation.

[Eli_6]

59 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I took it to mean that the OP was merely making this thread aware that she has a firm handle on consumer rights because she happens to be an attorney.  I didn't understand her to say that she mentioned it to the sales rep.  Maybe I misunderstood.

That's exactly what I meant.  Thank you for eloquently paraphrasing.  My point was just that technically, they really aren't supposed to do what they did.  But beyond sending an email and venting on here, it's clearly not worth doing anything about.  

 

I am just going to look for a new cruise or wait for their Kids Sail Free special to run again.  The main reason I was particularly interested in this one was because it was a Fjords cruise on a brand new ship out of London and I can get a direct flight to London. (Also, I have to go to London at some point in the next year anyway.)  

[MarLieb]

I'm not terribly surprised that this happened.  We've only been on one X cruise and there was so much miscommunication between shoreside and on board staff - we would be told one thing shoreside and then encounter something completely different on the ship.  Even now I'm debating whether or not to book specialty dining as, according to shoreside, it will cost $10 for my son, but others are encountering their children being charged full price once onboard.  It just seems X is ripe with miscommunication across departments.  We are sailing again this December, but I'm trying to keep things really simple to avoid being told one thing only to find out it was said to us in error.

 

I'm sure it would cost more, but DCL offers Norway/Iceland itineraries.  We sailed DCL to Norway and Iceland in 2015 and it was spectacular.

[Eli_6]

44 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

That would have been an amazing deal.  $2500/person in a suite category on the newest ship with an itinerary that is normally one of the more expensive?  Sign me up!

 

If you are looking for a Fjords cruise, I don’t think you will find it with carnival - don’t believe they do those itineraries.

 

Sorry you had to waste all that time. 😔

Yeah, it was a good deal. They ran the Kids Sail Free on Halloween and I wanted to book, but talk to my husband first and make sure he could do it.  I could have booked an infinity balcony with kids for $5800 on that sailing, but I got busy with kids and costumes and Trick-or-Treating and by the time I could log back in, it had expired.

 

MSC does multiple Fjords cruises and you can get the Yacht Club for like $7k or a two story family room (not in YC) for about the same.  The downside is they only sail out of Copenhagen or Keil.  I have played with flights and anyway I swing it, we are looking at a minimum of 16 to 18 hours.  That won't fly with my kids. 

 

I have flown direct to and from London.  It's 9 there and about 10-11 back.  And "going" they do overnight so kids can sleep.  I think they could handle that.  

 

Carnival has 1 Fjord sailing in 2020.  They have more opening up in 2021.

 

[Eli_6]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

What became of the booking number and confIrmation  they sent???

I still have it. 

 

I sent my email. If they want to make it right and give me the original price, I will book the cruise.  If not, I am going to look at other options in terms of cruises.  I am going to check out DCL like someone suggested.

[Eli_6]

11 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Nothing, because Celebrity had their attorneys write the contract to protect them not you.

Actually, I booked over the phone so didn't get their form contract. A contract can be verbal depending on the statute of frauds of the jurisdiction.  I don't know if there are disclaimers on the website or not and I am not going to waste any more time looking into it... because I have no intention of suing.

 

There is really no point in trying to argue this as a legal matter.  Because I do litigate for a living, I know enough about what a massive undertaking it is (and the amount of time, stress, and money involved) that I am probably, in actuality, less likely to sue than the average person. I am not entering into litigation over $3k and a wasted morning.  

 

I will simply take the sizable chunk of change I had planned to spend with them in the next year (because I had both this and another cruise booked for Christmas 2020 with X) and spend it somewhere else.  Although, I still have the other cruise booked under $25 per person deposit (so only losing $100 if I cancel) and I haven't decided if I find this entire situation disconcerting enough to cancel that one or not.  It's a long time before the full payment is due so I have plenty of time to decide.  

 

 

[clskinsfan]

Shocking to me that Celebrity just flushed 10K down the toilet. On top of pissing off a potential life long suite guest. They had a confirmed 10K in the bank. Plus whatever the Op had spent on board. Seems like poor business all around from Celebrity on this one.

[NLH Arizona]

2 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I agree.  If you have no intention to sue, and you said you don't, what's the point of telling them "I'm an attorney?" 

When this happens, the person is using it as a threat in order to try and have them reverse their decision.

[Eli_6]

37 minutes ago, MarLieb said:

I'm not terribly surprised that this happened.  We've only been on one X cruise and there was so much miscommunication between shoreside and on board staff - we would be told one thing shoreside and then encounter something completely different on the ship.  Even now I'm debating whether or not to book specialty dining as, according to shoreside, it will cost $10 for my son, but others are encountering their children being charged full price once onboard.  It just seems X is ripe with miscommunication across departments.  We are sailing again this December, but I'm trying to keep things really simple to avoid being told one thing only to find out it was said to us in error.

 

I'm sure it would cost more, but DCL offers Norway/Iceland itineraries.  We sailed DCL to Norway and Iceland in 2015 and it was spectacular.

Thanks for the suggestion on DCL.

 

Honestly, your point (about one arm of the organization not communicating with the other) is my biggest concern raised by this situation. Because what I have concluded from all of this is that whatever department runs the website was clearly not communicating with whoever decides what "deals" they are running.  And whoever made the "call" when I sat on hold for forever and told the person I was speaking with that Celebrity would honor the deal, apparently didn't have the authority to make that call or didn't run it up the proper chain of command.   And if they don't respond to my email, then this also tells me that they aren't overly receptive to customer concerns.  

 

Now, with all of that said, I understand this may have no reflection on the quality of service on the ship(s).  But it does concern me, especially since this will be a cruise a really long way from home, about X as an organization if there is a problem. 

 

Although, admittedly, Carnival and MSC's organizational track records for dealing with problems isn't the best either if you go back a few years. However, I do think Carnival has greatly improved after the cruise ship broke down in the gulf as they seemed quick to pull the Vista when she had mechanical issues and give all passengers a refund and a free cruise. I was actually surprised they did that as it could not have been cheap to do both for the three or so sailings they had to cancel. 

[TeeRick]

40 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

I still have it. 

 

I sent my email. If they want to make it right and give me the original price, I will book the cruise.  If not, I am going to look at other options in terms of cruises.  I am going to check out DCL like someone suggested.

Eli-6

Did you try the CEO's office?  Her email is:  lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com

[Eli_6]

6 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

Shocking to me that Celebrity just flushed 10K down the toilet. On top of pissing off a potential life long suite guest. They had a confirmed 10K in the bank. Plus whatever the Op had spent on board. Seems like poor business all around from Celebrity on this one.

And we also have a Christmas Cruise for $8500 booked for December 2020...ironically, also on the Apex. I booked under the $25 pp deposit deal so will only loose $100 if we cancel. Not sure if I am going to cancel, but leaning that way if they don't respond to my email. That one is out of Florida so there are plenty of other options for cruise lines.  My choices are admittedly much more restricted for a Fjords cruise that allows kids AND sails from London.  

[Eli_6]

6 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Eli-6

Did you try the CEO's office?  Her email is:  lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com

No I have not, but thanks for sending it to me!

 

And thank you to all the people who were helpful in this thread.  I have to get back to work, but I appreciate the suggestions on who talk to and additional uggestions on other cruise lines that do Fjords cruises.   

[Charles4515]

26 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

Shocking to me that Celebrity just flushed 10K down the toilet. On top of pissing off a potential life long suite guest. They had a confirmed 10K in the bank. Plus whatever the Op had spent on board. Seems like poor business all around from Celebrity on this one.

 

Celebrity did not flush 10K down the toilet. They will have no problem selling out the sailing. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

Yeah, it was a good deal. They ran the Kids Sail Free on Halloween and I wanted to book, but talk to my husband first and make sure he could do it.  I could have booked an infinity balcony with kids for $5800 on that sailing, but I got busy with kids and costumes and Trick-or-Treating and by the time I could log back in, it had expired.

 

MSC does multiple Fjords cruises and you can get the Yacht Club for like $7k or a two story family room (not in YC) for about the same.  The downside is they only sail out of Copenhagen or Keil.  I have played with flights and anyway I swing it, we are looking at a minimum of 16 to 18 hours.  That won't fly with my kids. 

 

I have flown direct to and from London.  It's 9 there and about 10-11 back.  And "going" they do overnight so kids can sleep.  I think they could handle that.  

 

Carnival has 1 Fjord sailing in 2020.  They have more opening up in 2021.

 

 

I did the Fjords on Princess out of Southhampton. We saw Celebrity and HAL ships on the same itinerary.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2019 by Charles4515

[mayleeman]

@Eli_6 As a fellow lawyer, I think you should look at this as objectively as possible. There was a 2 hour event with a couple of idiots that has you considering changing several cruise plans involving, I presume, weeks of vacation you had looked forward to. Changing all your plans seems to me a fit of pique that punishes you more than X because they will keep your forfeited money and resell the cabins, likely at a higher price.

 

When I was a judge in a consumer reparations forum for 19 years, the hardest thing to do was to get customers (without lawyers) who were offered even a full refund (and fees) to realize being made whole was more than they could win if they didn't settle. Treat this as you would a client--is it worth that level of upheaval? You must have liked X previously, and there is a virtually 0% chance of running into the nitwits again.

 

A couple of reps with wrong information resulting in no lasting harm should not ruin plans. File a letter of complaint, but I would treat it as the same as finding out only 2 hrs after booking that the ship was cancelled. Irritating, yes, and I would be angry, too, but not enough to hold a grudge. 

Edited December 3, 2019 by mayleeman

[hcat]

17 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Thanks for the advice.  It was $10,200 for 4 people in the lowest suite on the Apex for the Fjords for seven nights.  Price without kids sale free was about $13k.  Probably 70 percent of their suites are still unbooked.  

 

They actually had it for less on Halloween, but I got busy with my kids and trick or treating and did not book and then it expired

 

We also have a booking on the Apex for a Christmas cruise for $8500.  

 

 

Sadly,  we never rely on the website or ads...usually a catch or glitch somewhere .

But after taking a deposit and sending a Confirmation e mail,  they should have honored it.....if only to avoid the bad  publicity here and possibly other   social media. Suggest you contact Celebrity One Touch ....

 

Hope they offer you some OBC  for a future cruise.  Are you going to cancel APEX? If not  maybe you could use the OBC on that cruise???????

[bEwAbG]

Seeing the prices for this and other bookings, I agree that the OP has a right to be angry.  Those are well within the realm of reasonable fares for a 7-day cruise in the lowest suite category, even on the newest ship.  Having a confirmation in hand strengthens the case.  If the VP responds and doesn't agree to honor the fare, I'd then send a letter to the President asking for reconsideration.  They surely have call logs to go back and see what happened on their end.    

[dani negreanu]

4 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

My choices are admittedly much more restricted for a Fjords cruise that allows kids AND sails from London. 

 

Celebrity Silhouette sails from London (Southampton) to the Fjords with a very nice 8 days itinerary (August 28th, 2020), which include all the highlights. 

Also a 7 days on May 9 & June 27, 2020. Silhouette is an amazing ship, and Geiranger and Flam are a must, IMHO.